Reflecting On The Comments Of An American Soldier In Light Of Disability, Recovery And Of China Making Its Move Into Afghanistan

 I sat here at home today reading through the stories on my favorite news aggregation site, www.stevequayle.com trying to catch up on the news and proper perspective while also trying to recover from cutting an acre and a half of grass yesterday with a push mower because my 35 years old John Deere tractor is in the shop on July 4th weekend.

I read the story today on Steve’s site that came from the Daily Mail,  ‘China makes its move on Afghanistan: Beijing prepares to fill the vacuum left by Biden's premature military exit from the nation with $62B investment plan for its 'Belt and Road' and it brought to mind a brief conversation I had with a concerned soldier.

For most years during the 2010’s every March I photographed and produced a memorial video for a great fundraising event in Pittsburgh known as the ‘Brave American 5k/10k race’. The organization benefitting from the fundraising was Boulder Crest Foundation who is a leader in the therapeutic intervention in post traumatic stress in combat veterans, first responders and their families with results that are vastly improved over standard therapies and enable those who return the ability to live great lives back at home. Boulder Crest is an incredible organization made up of amazing, dedicated people.

As things were winding down at one of these numerous events, I was taking it all in as I was packing up my gear and I had a conversation with a soldier that while short, was unforgettable.

I can remember speaking with him that was about something relating to the challenges of the returning servicemen and women in getting back to normal life. In turn he told me a short story he heard about some who had been in Afghanistan. He told me a recollection of an anecdote he had heard about Americans asked to guard a hole in the ground where the Chinese were in the hole extracting rare earth minerals or some such thing. He asked the question of how does someone who went overseas as a member of the military of the United States deal with that when he/she comes home?

I had no answers for him. In retrospect, I can only have tremendous appreciation, respect and admiration for the servicemen and women who went to serve their country with dignity and honor. In what universe do American soldiers guarding a Chinese business venture in a theater of war make sense? How could soldiers and families who are enduring the loss of life and limb because of their commitment to their country, their families and their fellow soldiers rationalize a situation like this? By what kind of authority and political/business negotiation does something like this come about?  These brave men and women were -not- mercenaries sent a half a world away to serve the interests of a communist government/business; they are the men and women of the United States military!

I personally cannot fathom the depth of the issues that an incredible organization like Boulder Crest has to field with our returning veterans and first responders. I run a disability ministry and along with my wife did 8 1/2 years of basically ICU level of care including the development of a novel therapy to help my own daughter. My mission was always clear. Apparently it is not always that way when you wear a uniform. It seems to me that an unclear mission leads to cognitive dissonance and cognitive dissonance leads to the potential for mental health issues for conflicted recipients of double minded directives.

In the wake of the July 4th holiday and in light of the personal story I have shared, there is the aforementioned Daily Mail story that China will now waltz into Afghanistan. According to the story: 

…’Authorities in Kabul are considering extending a $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). First launched in 2013 by Chinese president Xi Jinping, and written into the Chinese constitution in 2017, it is billed by Beijing officials as a global infrastructure development fund which aims to better connect China to the rest of the world.‘…

So the Chinese are apparently funding their’Belt and Road’ initiative in Afghanistan via their ‘global infrastructure development fund’. Doesn’t it make one wonder if that hole in the ground mentioned in the story by the soldier could have been funded by the same ‘global infrastructure development fund’? If so, who was the politician(s) who struck the deal and who benefited? Someone did.

The men and women of the United States military deserve all the respect and gratitude that we as the citizens of America can give them. These same men and women deserve the decency of clear reasons for doing what they are asked to do. Wonderful Americans like Boulder Crest and The Brave American Race provide the leadership and results that Washington has not. What is missing from our national bureaucracy is the integrity to single minded command and not the dishonor of double mindedness. To truly serve God and the people of the United States of America and not the business and national interest of another nation at the risk of life and limb of own own precious people is the least we the people can ask in the wake of hamburgers, hot dogs and the fireworks that are to remind us of the price of freedom paid by current and previous generations of those faithful to the Red, White and Blue.

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Stan Szymanski is CEO of Encouraging Angels; Disability ministry through music, message and testimony. www.encouragingangels.org